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House passes $60 billion in spending cuts

Final passage of the bill came on a 235-189 vote before dawn, capping an all-night session. |
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Among the three Republicans who voted against the bill — Reps. Walter Jones of North Carolina, Jeff Flake of Arizona, and John Campbell of California — Flake and Campbell were both part of this group seeking more cuts.

For its part, the Appropriations leadership is not wedded entirely to the final package either.

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“I don’t think the chairman of the full committee likes the CR very much. If he did he wouldn’t have been required to write it three times,” joked Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) in the closing debate. And many on the committee believe that its initial bill, making $32 billion in cuts, was a far more realistic target given the makeup of the Senate.

As lawmakers go home for their Presidents Day recess, the next seven days could prove pivotal in shaping public opinion — and how GOP moderates respond — in relation to the expansive House bill.

What began as a straight-forward budget-cutting exercise is now a ledger bulging with provisions that touch on everything from Western lands management to Florida water quality rules, Internet regulations, a new consumer product safety data bank, and emissions standards for the cement industry.

West Virginia coal interests and East Coast fishermen won relief in the post-midnight amendments Saturday, even as the powerful ethanol lobby suffered twin setbacks. And in their eagerness to cut off legal fees for environmental lawyers, Western Republicans may have inadvertently cut off veterans and the elderly as well — a potential minefield for their colleagues.

As the marathon session stretched into early Saturday morning, a half-dozen members were asleep in the Speaker's Lobby off the House floor. Other lawmakers walked around bleary eyed, asking each other "Are we done yet." When Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) announced at 2:15 a.m. that the voting would end in another hour, members on both sides of the aisle cheered loudly.

In fact, it was closer to two more hours.

Boehner has been content to let this process evolve, but there will come a point soon when the speaker will have to weigh in more heavily. His critics see him as a weak leader, running to stay ahead of his troops. But others find a cleverness in his approach: steering this movement to Obama’s doorstep and from it capturing a certain energy himself, almost like those William Holden roles where a jaded character finds new purpose and comes alive in the end.

Ester Cepeda..Washington Post Writers Group….2/17/2011…..wrote that Pell Grants, about 6 Billion in total…went mainly to African Americans ( Read..Caribbean and African immigrants…Posh Ivy League Schools prefer them)(, Hispanic ( Read..Immigrants, legal or illegal) and Students Who Speak English as a Second Language ( Any Immigrant who is not Hispanic or Black..qualifies here.)all

The new healthcare law continues to lose support, and now it’s Democrats themselves who are abandoning ship. North Dakota Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad, chairman of the Budget Committee, says it’s time for Congress to look at the issue again, The Hill reports. He wants to see spending cuts that would reduce the budget deficit.

“The healthcare accounts, we’re spending one of every six dollars in this economy on healthcare. We’re heading to one of every three,” Conrad said. “There have to be further reform and savings in the healthcare accounts.” He says he “personally” favors allowing the secretary of Health and Human Services to negotiate prescription drug prices on behalf of Medicare beneficiaries.

Conrad also has criticized President Barack Obama in recent days for failing to address entitlements in the budget. “If you look at the spending in the federal government, 60 percent of it is entitlements,” he notes.

We're heading back into recession thanks to the "leadership" shown by Republicans at a small percentage of the population that is too caught up in the Koch brothers' lies to even begin to understand budgeting.

The only winners in this bill are the Koch's and other industry leaders.

Regulatory agencies are essentially prevented from doing their jobs now, which means the Koch boys win big. But I'm sure they'll hire all of us due to this giant gift we just gave them. Lord knows they won't just profit more and leave us hanging.

Also, I'd like to ask any person in the tea party to estimate how much less they'll be paying in taxes last year at the expensive of destroying the agencies that care for our veterans, the agencies that police dishonesty on wall street, and the agencies that police companies that polute our waters and rip us off.

I'd love a dollar estimate.

I'd also like to see an estimate from a credible economist about how many jobs will be lost under this budget, both government and private sector.

(In before some idiot tea bagger even tries to suggest this won't cost private sector jobs).

We're heading back into recession thanks to the "leadership" shown by Republicans at a small percentage of the population that is too caught up in the Koch brothers' lies to even begin to understand budgeting.

The only winners in this bill are the Koch's and other industry leaders.

Regulatory agencies are essentially prevented from doing their jobs now, which means the Koch boys win big. But I'm sure they'll hire all of us due to this giant gift we just gave them. Lord knows they won't just profit more and leave us hanging.

Also, I'd like to ask any person in the tea party to estimate how much less they'll be paying in taxes last year at the expensive of destroying the agencies that care for our veterans, the agencies that police dishonesty on wall street, and the agencies that police companies that polute our waters and rip us off.

I'd love a dollar estimate.

I'd also like to see an estimate from a credible economist about how many jobs will be lost under this budget, both government and private sector.

(In before some idiot tea bagger even tries to suggest this won't cost private sector jobs).

Washington, DC -- An amendment by Congressman Steve Scalise that defunds many of President Obama’s radical czars was just approved by the House of Representatives on a roll call vote and attached to the Continuing Resolution (CR). The CR would fund the government through September and would cut at least $100 billion in federal spending.

We went from a surplus under President Bill Clinton to an enormous deficit in 10 years.

We know that trickle-down economics does not work. We know that underfunding regulatory agencies does not work. We know Wall Street brought this Country to its knees in the biggest financial crises in the history of the world. We know that the Bush tax cuts created few jobs. We know that few if any corporations pay the full tax rate and many of the largest corporations pay no taxes at all. We know that oil prices and gasoline prices at the pump are fueled by speculators. We know that billionaires like the Brother Koch want to keep the economic scales fully tilted in their favor. (Fortunately, not all billionaires share their Right wing values.) We know that small businesses means to many Republicans not actual small businesses but companies such as Boeing which have subsidiaries that have been twisted to meet the government's definition of a small business. We know that prior to the Obama Administration there was no major crackdown on Medicare fraud.

The Republican leaders know these things are true.

Out of whack government fiscal policies need to be addressed. However, to say the least Speaker Boehner and the House of Representatives do not inspire confidence.

Well it is a start. Hopefully, the democrats will see the light and get it in place ASAP! If not, they and Obummer will be responsible for any government shut downs.

Well it's a start!! No a real start would of been repealing the tax cuts for their Masters the top 2%. And taking back the tax cuts for big oil companies. This would of been bold cuts not the nickel & dime B S they are doing now. I believe this total would of been around 340 billion if they had the ba_ _s to do what is right for all. But they are nothing but puppets of big business bought and paid for in full.

Step 4: Claim the Republicans have CUT $400 BILLION out of the budge. Accuse them of wanting to stave the poor and throw children out on the street. Accuse them of wanting old people to just die. Round up all the freeloading rabble you can find for demonstrations against the heartless Republilcans. The fact that the rabble has no idea why they're there or what the issues are doesn't matter - only big numbers of people for the sympathetic press to film.

CASE IN POINT:

The average Wisconsin teacher has a salary and benefit package worth OVER $100,000, but they're refusing to work and taking to the streets because they're being asked to pay for some of their generous benefits themselves rather than sticking even more costs onto the Wisconsin taxpayer.

Boehner's Spending Cuts Would Kill 1 Million Jobs BOOehNERO: "If American Jobs Are Lost. SO BE IT" WHILE USA BURNS HE PLAYS THE FIDDLE (VIOLIN) BoEhnedwARD: Then Ask Me The Most Basic Question... What do we EAT... I Mean Where Are The JOBS?